The concept of "boarding school" for high school students in America carries the connotation of elite schools for children from wealthy and privileged families. The general perception is that these kids live in a college-like environment and are blessed with the best of education, sports, and social activities. Perhaps there is some truth to that, but it is definitely not the case in Uganda. Yes, boarding school in Uganda is more expensive than day school, but the similarity ends there. Boarding students in Uganda stay in dormitories that house from dozens to hundreds of students in a single room, usually stuffed like sardines in closely packed triple-decker bunks. They carry their own water for drinking and bathing in 20-liter jerrycans from boreholes that can be quite a distance from their dorms. Their sanitary facilities are usually outdoor pit latrines and they bathe in outdoor "bathrooms," one-person-size structures that offer some little privacy and a drain hole. In addition to their personal toiletries, students must come with their own mattresses, sheets, blankets, and mosquito nets (and jerrycans!). For breakfast, they get a mug of liquid porridge. For lunch and supper, it's posho (a solid form of corn meal mush) and beans. That is what they eat seven days a week. For teens who've grown up in Kampala's urban slums, boarding school is a dream come true.

Seventy-five percent of our secondary students are enrolled in boarding school. While our decisions are based both on the home situation and academic potential, the home environment is paramount. Orphans staying with an uncaring guardian and many small children in the house are doomed to failure. Their stepmothers and aunts expect the older girls to take over cooking, cleaning, laundry, and child care from the moment they arrive home from school until bedtime. Boys and girls staying with a sick relative or an older brother or sister who may also be in school often find that the school lunch we provide is the only meal they eat in the day. Lack of electricity is a another deterrent as it gets dark between 7:00 and 7:30 pm, leaving most students with little time to study. Because girls tend to find their options more limited than boys, sixty-five percent of our boarding students are girls.